1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vents for air circulation in the attic space between roof and ceiling in building structures, and more particularly to roof ridge vent structures which may be modified on site to accommodate various sizes of standard roof cap shingles.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Polston, U.S. Pat. No. 7,662,037, teaches a roof ridge vent that is formed with separation lines parallel with its outer edges which permit separation of the outer edge portions of the structure. In its original configuration, the roof vent structure may be used with wide cap shingles. Removal of the outer edge portions permits the ridge vent to be used in connection with narrower cap shingles. The Polston '037 patent fails to teach, however, the interlocking components and the ventilation slots adjacent each of the side edges of the present invention.
Coulton, U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,024, teaches an adjustable-pitch sectional roof ridge vent formed as a one-piece, plastic, injection-molded body having an elongate top wall and a pair of opposed outer sidewalls depending outwardly and downwardly from peripheral longitudinal edges of the top wall. Each of the outer sidewalls has a lowermost edge, a plurality of ventilation openings, and an upturned flange projecting from the lowermost edge. The vent has a pair of opposed, integrally-formed end walls which depend from opposite ends of the top wall and which are each formed by a plurality of separate, spaced apart wall segments extending across the end of the top wall in substantially end-to-end single file alignment. Each pair of adjacent wall segments are spaced apart to form an open gap therebetween to enable ready flexing of the vent, and selected ones of the wall segments have an undulating configuration such that they interconnect to the top wall via a sinusoidal shaped juncture.
Coulton, U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,916, teaches a ridge vent, roof ridge vent installation, and method of installing a ridge vent is provided. Preferably, the ridge vent includes a ventilation material that has opposite longitudinally-extending side edges that are covered with an air permeable filter material. A longitudinally-extending central section of the vent is not covered by the air permeable filter material, is transparent, and enables a ventilating air flow to pass through the vent in a manner requiring only a single pass through the air permeable material. This permits greater air flow through the vent, and the transparent central section simplifies and enables accurate placement of the vent on the roof ridge.
Fiterman, U.S. Pat No. 4,803,813, Kasner et al., U.S. Pat. No.5,331,783, Ricke et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,558, Hess et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,928, Morris, U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,734, Brotherton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,869, Headrick, U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,963, and Headrick et al., U.S. 2004/0088928 also teach a variety of roof ridge vents used as a means to ventilate the attic space between the roof and ceiling of a building. The above-described references are hereby incorporated by reference in full.